


Amber

by tatertotarmy



Category: Rune Factory (Video Games), Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny
Genre: F/M, i'll steer this ship if it kills me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-16
Updated: 2018-08-16
Packaged: 2019-06-28 03:40:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15699405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tatertotarmy/pseuds/tatertotarmy
Summary: Sometimes, the storms on Fenith Island are too wild to ever brave on land or sea. Getting caught in the middle of one borders on suicide.





	Amber

As calm as it was on Fenith Island, it was the storms that made everything go to hell. Usually they were manageable, a minor passing of light rain and the occasional bolt of lightning that struck the far seas to the north. At times they were difficult, with the waves reaching high and carving a deep trench in the sands. 

But it was the rare times that something worse came. A rough storm with piercing winds and deafening crashes of waves, threatening to bury the entire island underwater. And they always come suddenly, swiftly, like a wolf striking from the shadows. One moment it would be clear skies, the next, all you would be able to hear is the roar of the rain and hail.

The roar of thunder shook the clinic, the overhanging light struggling to stay on as it swayed back and forth. It flickered several times, staying on for a few seconds only to shut off completely after. And just like that, Violet was alone in the darkness of the clinic, illuminated by the grey hues that coated the outside, distorted by countless raindrops pelting the far window. There was a tremble on her skin as she peeked nervously outside, the loose fabric of her dress balled up nervously in her hands.

From the other room, she heard Father Gerard calling for the kids in the darkness, gathering them up together for safe keeping. Then, she heard Pandora’s voice, saying something about ‘embracing the terrors of the storm.’ Then, a hushed argument between priest and sorceress, spoken low enough for it to be indistinguishable for Violet.

Violet stood there, looking anxiously in the direction of her flowers, just freshly planted. There was no chance they would survive…would they? They were only freshly sprouted, and she was so looking forward to see them all in bloom. A mixture of flowers, all precisely picked for their meanings. Daffodils, tulips, blue irises…honestly, Violet knew that a majority of the island didn’t know of the language of flowers, but it was something she always took pride in. 

And now…she would have to think of a new message to bring. After all that effort she put in. She hoped that Jocelyn would bring more seeds to purchase. 

Another flash of lightning, almost blinding. Another shake of the building, sending the light above swaying in a frenzy. Violet flinched and stepped away from the window, sighing. She hoped that Lily and Odette were okay in this weather. It was in the middle of the lunch rush…so hopefully things weren’t too chaotic there. 

Honestly, knowing Lily, she would offer to play a song to relax any of the customers.

A small smile came to Violet’s lips, and quietly she began to hum one of Lily’s songs, a soft melody nearly obscured by the sound of pounding rain. 

A few moments passed, Violet merely watching the rain pound on the window, absentmindedly hearing the soft arguments between Father Gerard and Pandora, focusing more on the soft song on her lips. 

And then, a shadow.

Violet stopped, freezing right in place, watching as a shadow obscured by rain and fog advanced more and more, advancing towards the church. She took a step towards the church door. 

The shadow collapsed.

Violet ran for the door leading to the church, nearly slamming it open. In the center of the church, between the pews, were Pandora and Father Gerard, both with surprised eyes on locked on her. In the corner of the church, she could see Quinn and Kelsey off in the shadows, Kelsey hiding behind a thick curtain hanging from the far wall. 

“F-Father Gerard! S-Someone’s outside,” Violet didn’t hesitate in rushing down the aisle towards the main door, gesturing for him to come over. There was a small pause before she heard Father Gerard huff, stepping away from Pandora.

“Now…who could possibly be in this dreadful weather?” Father Gerard’s voice was as calm as ever, though he also stepped quickly towards the door, a serious look on his face. He slowly opened the door, and the booming winds of the storm practically filled the room, and even Father Gerard struggled to keep the door from completely flying open. Rain shot down through the open door and coated the floor, and when Violet peeked out the door as well, she felt the rain like tiny streaks of ice on her skin.

It was then she saw the collapsed figure, unobscured by the distorted lens of her window.

Joe.

\--

Violet placed a hand on Joe’s forehead, a worried look upon her face, “H-He feels a little warm. I’m not sure how long he was out there. But…um…I hope it wasn’t long.” 

With the help of Father Gerard (and Pandora – who demanded to be recognized for her efforts while she stood to the sidelines), Joe was safely carried in unconscious. He didn’t appear to have any injuries aside form light bruises, but he was soaked to the bone. And thankfully, Father Gerard removed what clothes he could for Violet, to try to prevent hypothermia. If anything, Violet guessed Joe’s ailment was exhaustion of some sort. Or at least, that’s what she hoped it was. And she would worry until she confirmed that was the case. At the very least, exhaustion would be a part of it, considering the storm outside.

“Ah, what was this boy thinking, walking around in this dreadful weather?” Father Gerard sighed, some of Joe’s clothes bundled up in his arms, “Sometimes, I think he’s lost his sense.”

“I-I’m sure there’s a reason he was out…” Violet spoke, pulling her hand away from Joe.

“There is no good reason to be out in this weather.”

“W-Well…um…what if he needed medicine?”

“It would have to be a dire emergency to risk that. Let’s hope that that’s not the case,” Father Gerard pulled his expression into a kind smile, “I’ll leave him in your hands, Violet. Do let me know if you need any more assistance.”

“O-Of course,” Violet straightened up, bowing her head slightly, “T-Thank you very much, Father Gerard.”

“I’ll drop these back off once they’re done drying,” Father Gerard motioned to the clothes in his arms and began striding towards the church door.

As soon as Father Gerard opened the door, Violet heard a sharp chorus of gasps from the church. Father Gerard paused, looking into the church in surprise.

“Pandora…” Father Gerard strode back into the church, the door shutting behind him and his voice slowly fading out, “I pray that you are stepping _away_ from the door…right?”

As the voices began to fade out into background noise, Violet looked back to Joe, who was still unconscious. She tried to dry him off as much as she could before Father Gerard laid him down…but even then, the sheets around him looked the slightest bit damp. Maybe when Father Gerard came back, she would ask him to move Joe to the other bed. She didn’t want him to get even more sick than he could be. 

He was a little warm, too. Hopefully the fever wouldn’t get worse.

She reached out to his forehead again. He was a little hotter…this was worrying. Maybe she could prepare some medicine just in case? Oh…but she wanted to keep an eye on him. What if he woke up and needed help? 

Just as the thought crossed her mind, a golden eye opened up, peering up towards the ceiling. Then…it wandered for a little while, before locking with Violet’s eyes.

“Is he gone?”

Violet jumped, squeaking as she retracted her hand, keeping it close to her chest as she took a step back from the bed.

“J-Joe…? Y-You’re…a-awake? I’m so sorry…um…I-I didn’t realize…” 

“Hm?” Joe looked confused, shuffling around in the bed a little bit to sit up, one hand reaching up to clutch his head, “No, you’re fine. I didn’t want to get a lecture from Gerard. Good to know my acting’s good, right?” He flashed a grin at Violet, before wincing.

Any surprise or shock was replaced by concern, with Violet rushing back to the side of the bed, her hands up and ready to help, “W-What’s wrong?”

“Ah…head’s just poundin’,” Joe grunted, “Nothing that I can’t live through.”

“O-Oh…I-I have something for that…um…” Violet scurried over towards a cabinet in the corner of the room, the interior lined with different potions of various colors. She grabbed a blue potion from the top, a very light recovery potion, and quickly walked back over to Joe. She offered it to Joe, and he thankfully took it and downed it quickly.

“Thanks, Vi,” Joe let out a breath of relief, “These things pack a hell of a punch.”

“I-Is…t-that why you came here…?” Violet asked, tilting her head.

“Hm?” Joe looked over at her, a blank look on his face, “What do you mean?”

“W-Well…y-you collapsed,” Violet pointed towards the window, “R-Right out there. I-It was scary to see…”

Joe’s face was blank for a long moment, before he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, “Oh…so this is where I ended up.”

“Hm?” Violet asked, “W-What do you mean?”

He laughed a bit awkwardly, like he was trying to play off some joke but failing miserably at the delivery. He didn’t say anything for a while, looking down at the sheets with a rare look of embarrassment on his face.

“Well, Vi…I…” Joe took in a deep breath, taking a quick glance at Violet, “Promise you won’t tell anyone?”

“H-Huh?”

“Listen…you can’t tell anyone about this,” Joe continued, looking away awkwardly, “It’ll ruin my reputation. Gramps wouldn’t let me live it down if he knew.”

“B-But why…?”

“Come on…please?” Joe asked, looking over at her again, “If you promise…I’ll show you something real nice, okay? Just promise.”

Violet took in a deep breath, “O-Okay…I-I promise.”

“Great…” Joe sighed, “Listen…I was out looking for treasure. Managed to find something real nice out there. And when I came back…that whole storm came through. Knocked me completely off guard. And…I might have…crashed my boat.”

Violet gasped, her hands raising up in concern again as her eyes examined what she could see of him over and over again, “C-Crashed your boat? A-Are you okay? W-Where are you hurt?” 

“Relax…I just got a little banged up,” Joe waved it off, like it didn’t even matter, “But the boat was just…a wreck. I managed to climb up to the road. But I couldn’t see where I was. Plus my head might’ve gotten a little knocked around. So I just kept walking and walking and…guess I stopped here. At least I went to the right place, right?”

The more he talked, the more worried Violet got.

“But…wrecking the boat…” Joe ran a hand through his hair, letting out a frustrated breath, “Listen…I’m sure Gramps would have known what to do. And when I got wrapped up in the storm…I just blanked out, you know? It’s embarrassing. Here I am…just proving him right. Sure I don’t look so good to you now, too.”

Violet shook her head, “B-But you still made it here. T-That sounds so scary…I-I wouldn’t know what to do.”

“But I’m supposed to know what to do,” Joe sighed, looking over at Violet, “It’s like…blanking out when someone comes in for help. It’s just…the worst feeling in the world. Plus…Gramps I going to kill me if he sees that wreckage.”

“I-I’m sure Mr. Bacchus would understand…”

“You obviously don’t know Gramps. I’ll be hearing about this until he dies.”

“W-Well…h-how difficult would it be to clean up?”

“You mean before he sees it? Jeez…I don’t even know. Probably take forever for me to do it.”

“W-Well…w-what if…um…” Violet felt a little bit embarrassed, “I-I could…um…”

Joe froze, looking at Violet with the most shocked look on his face, “Wait…are you offering to help?”

“W-Well…a-as long as y-you stay away from storms…then…” Violet felt meek. Did it sound weird to offer? He probably didn’t want her help at all. She was just a nurse…she never lifted things or do anything like that. Would she be in the way? Probably. 

To her surprise, however, a big grin appeared on his face, “Woah, really? Never expected that from you, Vi. Sure I have a chance now, with two people on board.”

“H-Huh?” Violet looked at him deadpan.

“What?” Joe paused, “You weren’t offering?”

“N-No! I-I was offering,” Violet spoke immediately.

“Great!” Joe grinned, before lifting the blanket up, “Oh, sweet, my pants are still here.”

“H-Huh?” Violet suddenly realized how…shirtless Joe was. Her cheeks bloomed a bit red as she looked away. She could handle this as a nurse…but now she wasn’t really in nurse mode and she couldn’t exactly handle it.

“Come here,” Joe gestured for her to come closer.

Violet stood rigid, shaking her head.

“Vi…it’s what I wanted to show you.”

Violet continued to shake her head.

“Alright…close your eyes.”

Violet hesitantly closed her eyes. She heard a slight shifting in the bed in front of her. 

“Alright, you can open them.”

Her eyes fluttered open. And sitting in Joe’s hand was a solid chunk of amber large enough to nearly sit in the palm of his hand. And in the middle of this chunk of amber appeared to be flowers fossilized within. She couldn’t help but open her mouth in genuine awe, stepping closer to get a better look at it.

“T-That’s beautiful…” Violet spoke, looking at it from every direction she could, “W-Where did you find this…?”

“On an island just north of here,” Joe had a proud tone to his voice, “There were other chunks like this, but this was the coolest looking one.”

“T-That’s amazing!” There was a bright smile on Violet’s face as she looked over at Joe. “I wish I could have seen it!”

Suddenly, there was a flash of red on Joe’s cheeks, and he looked away, “W-Well…I mean…if you want…I could always take you there.”

“H-Huh? Really?” 

“Y-Yea…I mean…taking people around isn’t my style, but since you’re being so helpful…I mean…um…” Joe swallowed, before a fabricated smile appeared on his face, “Think of it as my payment for you not telling anyone what happened!”

“W-Wasn’t that in exchange for seeing this…?” Violet looked confused, gesturing to the amber piece.

“W-Well…you’re also helping me with the wreckage and all, so…” Joe scratched the back of his head with his free hand then smiled confidently, “And, you know, anything for a pretty girl, right?”

Violet froze in place, her face turning bright red.

“Uh…Violet…?” Joe looked confused, “You alright?” He rose up a hand to Violet’s forehead, which only made her freeze up more.

The church door opened.

“Violet…?” Father Gerard called out, “The clothes are dry, so I’ll…”

There was a pause. Everyone frozen in place. The sound of dropping clothes.

“Joe…” Father Gerard carefully spoke, “Just what do you think you’re doing?”

Needless to say…Joe did not get out of that lecture.


End file.
